The Arrival Of YouTube Gaming

Video sharing giant YouTube have come a long way since the company’s inception back in 2005. Here we are 10 years later and Chad Hurley, Steve Chen and Jawed Karim’s creation has grown to become one of the biggest online services in history. This year alone over 1 billion users will enjoy videos across the many YouTube channels with over 4 billion views racked up each and every day. And there’s no sign of things slowing down as no less than 300 hours of new videos are added every single minute. So with YouTube’s brand as strong as ever it comes as no surprise to find them looking for new ways in which to expand their existing range of technology services to help offer more diversity to platform users.

Owing to the significantly improved broadband and Wi-Fi connection speeds now available around the globe, the idea of streaming entertainment and gaming services has become much more commonplace. Live streaming hubs such as Twitch.tv have become extremely popular over the past couples of years; offering a whole range of ways in which members can stream their own gaming content and other programs through their very own channels. The rise of Twitch has also meant that live entertainment features, such as esports events, are now being broadcast through these services, reaching audiences of millions via tablets and smartphones.

Back in June this year YouTube decided to let the world know that they’re not ready to let this next generation of online streaming services elude them by announcing that they too would also be unleashing their very own Twitch.tv rival dubbed YouTube Gaming. And by late August 2015 this service was finally launched and Google will certainly be hoping that this rival service will be able to capture a significant share of this burgeoning market after losing out to Amazon in an attempt to purchase Twitch early last year.

YouTube Gaming provides games, live streams, videos and other game-related channels to its viewership. In basic terms, the service has dragged content from its main staple YouTube and placed it into a new arena whilst also providing users with the ability to live stream. The service will be available on both iOS and Android devices and is expected to expand to other platforms in the not-too-distant future.

The Google-owned platform will also be looking to bring special pay-per-view sporting events to fans and this news has excited operators, particularly those in the casino industry that will be able to utilise the platform to stream live croupiers in the hope of reaching a wider spectrum of players. What this all means is that gamers can expect a much more immersive experience and it could bring new variations of their favourite pastimes. Take bingo for example, people may no longer have to travel to their local hall when brand new bingo games can be streamed live in to their living rooms. With Twitch.tv and now YouTube Gaming the real winners are gamers and who knows who will enter the market next.